Unspoken Knowledge
by Aspen-Writer
Summary: Nick's brother has something important to tell him, but he worries that by revealing this news it could possibly change the relationship between the two brothers. However, he doesn't have to worry for Nick has already figured him out long ago. ONE-SHOT. Takes place before the film.
Hello there Zootopia fans! It's Aspen-Writer here, and here is my first ever fanfic of the film "Zootopia".

I'm a bit nervous on posting this up since it is my first for "Zootopia" and I wonder if I had kept Nick in-character. This fanfic also has my OC in it, but don't worry. I did my best to flesh him out.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

 **Unspoken Knowledge**

The weather was overcast in the famous city of Zootopia with a light rain pouring down upon the city. Some animals grumbled about the weather, muttering about the weather channel never bothering to give them a truthful answer on how the weather will be like. The weather didn't bother one red fox who sat inside his car, drumming his paw against the steering wheel as he waited. He glanced around at the empty parking lot, trying to see any sign of the animal he was waiting for. So far, no one except the animals walking past the parking lot and seeing nothing particularly of interest.

That suited the fox just fine. He didn't want a huge crowd for this special meeting.

After another quick look around and seeing nothing, he pulled out his phone from his pocket to glance at the time.

8:45…he was 45 minutes late.

The fox growled in annoyance as he put away his phone.

"I swear he does this every time. If he ever comes on time once…just once…I'll join the Naturalist Club!"

The fox then paused at what he had just said. Would he really do that?

A knock from the passenger side caused the fox to jump. He glanced over and rolled his eyes when he saw who it was.

"Oh finally!"

It was another red fox wearing a light green Hawaiian shirt and a dark indigo necktie. The fox grinned mischievously and waved at the fox in the car.

Sighing, the fox driver motioned the other fox to get in.

"Hey there, Rey!" The fox wearing the green shirt greeted as he got into the vehicle. "How's life treating you?"

"You're 45 minutes late, Nick!" The other fox, Rey, groaned in exasperation. "Where were you?"

"Had to discuss some business related things with Finnick," Nick answered. "We have a new surefire way to make several dollars."

"I thought you were doing the wall rug business. What happened to it?"

Nick's ears lowered at this. "Uhh…that business…went down the drain…"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah…seems like Mr. Big isn't too fond of wall rugs…"

Rey immediately became concerned. "What happened?"

"Nothing much," Nick shrugged again. "He hated the wall rug I gave him, told me to never show my face around his area again and kicked me out."

"Well what was wrong the wall rug?"

"Eh…don't ask."

Rey frowned, but he said nothing. Instead he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

"So," Nick clasped his hands together as they drove. "Where to, bro?"

"Thought I'd take you back to my place, give you some dinner and let you stay over for the night." Rey answered.

Nick rolled his eyes. "OK, dinner sounds good…but staying over at your place isn't necessary. I have my own apartment you know."

"Well I don't like it," Rey snorted. "It's leaking water, there are cockroaches, and you sleep in a drawer for crying out loud! You're going to get sick if you stay down there so I insist you stay with me for the night…or a couple of days...weeks…"

Nick rolled his eyes again, but he was smiling. "Treating me like I'm nine again…just like the good old days, huh?"

Rey grunted but said nothing.

Nick knew that his brother meant well, but sometimes he felt like he can be quite…overprotective. Always had been…but ever since that…awful night when he was nine…Rey had become even more protective over him. Possibly due to guilt that he wasn't there to protect his baby brother from the other cub scouts. Nick had told him time and time again that it wasn't his fault and to just drop it, but Rey just couldn't.

Finally they pulled into an apartment parking lot and the two brothers then had the task of going up to the fourth floor…by stairs.

"You know," Nick spoke up as they climbed the stairways. "My apartment building has an elevator service…we could have—"

"Can it, Nick." Rey sighed as he reached into his coat pocket for the key. "We're here anyways."

Stepping into the apartment, Nick had to admit that his brother's apartment was far nicer than his own apartment.

Dry, clean, no bugs crawling around…and there was a real bed in the bedroom.  
"Make yourself comfortable," Rey tossed his coat onto a chair. "I'll get dinner ready."

Nick sat on the couch and noticed the morning paper on the coffee table. Picking it up, he scanned the recent headlines.

 **"14 PREDATORS STILL MISSING FOR TWO WEEKS."**

Nick skimmed through the news article. It was the same thing…fourteen predator mammals had disappeared, the police still haven't found anything, families are desperately begging the public for any information of their missing loved ones, it was the same old thing.

Disinterested, Nick tossed the newspaper back on the table and picked up the remote control to turn on the TV and flipped through the channels.

After several minutes of channel flipping, Rey called Nick over to the table for dinner.

Seating himself at the small table, Nick blinked as Rey filled two bowls with vegetable soup.  
"Thought I'd make you your favorite," Rey spoke when he noticed Nick's confusion. "Is that OK?"

"Oh, it's fine!" Nick answered as he picked up his spoon to dig in.

"Oh," Rey sighed with relief as he placed two slices of bread next to Nick's bowl. "That's good…"

Nick glanced over at Rey, noticing how nervous his older brother seemed to be, barely even touching his soup. A thought came to Nick.

"So…what's the occasion, bro?"

Rey was silent for awhile…finally he took a deep breath.

"Nick…as my little brother…you know how much I look out for you, take care of you and love you, right?"

"Yup…" Nick answered as he dunked his bread into the soup. "You were saying that since the day I was born."

"Well yeah…" Rey nodded. He then took another deep breath. "Nick…there is something…I need to tell you…"

"Is this about you being gay?"

Complete silence followed that statement as Rey stared at his younger brother who continued on eating as if nothing happened.

Finally Rey spoke.

"How…how did you know?!"

Nick shrugged. "Thought it was obvious."

"How?!"

Nick started to count off with his fingers. "Well one, you never brought over a girlfriend home during the high school years…two, you're more into cooking stuff than doing athletics or stuff like that…and three—"

Rey interrupted Nick.

"Just because a guy prefers to cook doesn't automatically mean they are gay…"

"True," Nick gave a nod. "But hey, I was right about you, wasn't I?"

Rey was silent for a long time. Finally he sighed and gave a nod. "Yeah…you're right…yeah…I'm gay, Nick."

"Okay."

Rey stared at his younger brother again. "What do you mean 'okay'? Aren't you…surprised, or shocked or…even…disgusted?"

"No…" Nick shook his head. "Why would I be?"

"Well…" Rey hesitated. "I just thought—"

"Look Rey," Nick's voice became serious. "You being gay doesn't change the way I feel about you. You're still my big brother and I'm going to look out for you."

"Isn't that supposed to be my job?" Rey demanded, but he was smiling.

Nick smirked. "Hey, someone has to go after the ones who call you 'fairy' or 'poof' or whatever."

"And just what will you do to them?"

Nick paused as he thought about it. "Uhh…I'll come up with a plan once it happens."

Rey couldn't help but chuckle at Nick's confidence. "Heh…thanks Nick."

"No problem."

Smiling, Rey settled down in his chair and picked up his spoon, realizing just how hungry he was.

The two brothers continued on with their dinner and Rey felt more free and relieved on how well his brother took the news.

Yes…he was lucky to have such a brother.

"So what is that new business plan you are thinking of?"

"Well, all I can say that it has to do with popsicles…"

 _THE END_

I hope that was a good attempt at my first Zootopia fanfic.

I'm currently also thinking about doing another Zootopia fanfic, but this time it will be set on that fateful day of Nick's childhood and Rey's response to what happened.

Anyway, hope I did a good or at least decent job on this.


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